The Fallen Soldier
by Raven Heartz
Summary: Gail Barnes has always been used to her father's absence, leaving her alone as the Avengers save the day. When an enemy from his past returns, Gail will have to face her father's dark past- and finally learn who her mother is.
1. Chapter One

Chapter One

"Dad!" I yell, kicking the door shut and dropping my bag. I have maybe five minutes tops before Bucky leaves, and I want to take advantage of them.

"Don't slam the doors!" He scolds from the living room.

I run in and jump, landing on him and squeezing the snot out of him. "Sorry," I say, still hugging him like I did when I was five- or whenever he leaves. "How long?"

"Two weeks," He strokes my hair even though I tense, the cool metal from his left arm soothing me. "It's not that long, Gail."

"Unless?" I prompt.

He sighs and moves me back, making me meet his eyes. "Nothing is going to happen," He says firmly.

I shake my head, looking away.

"I won't let anything happen to him," My favorite uncle says, giving me a reassuring smile. "I promise."

I give him a glare, crossing my arms. "You'd better, or I'll gut you with a spork."

"Ooh, serious," Dad smirks, kissing my temple. "Do you have your bag?"

I sigh. "You're wasting my five minutes!" I protest.

"Gail," He chides.

I huff. "In the hall, which you should have seen, old man."

He raises a brow as Steve rushes to get my bag. "What was that?" He asks. "And I saw that, punk!" He yells, leaning to the side to glare at Steve.

"Sorry!" Steve calls, not sounding very sorry.

Dad shakes his head. "I'm not old."

"You're at least ninety." I say blandly.

"And I can still ground you," He says easily. "Hurry up so we can drop you off at the tower."

Muttering under my breath, I grab my book bag again and hold the door open, not that I need to since Steve has my bags in one hand, and Dad kisses my temple when he passes. I sigh, make sure I have the spare key, and lock the doors, knowing I'll be the one who has to clean it later.

…

As Steve pulls Natasha close and kisses her, I glance at Dad and wonder who my mother is. We both have dark hair and eyes, but don't really look like him other than that, and I have yet to find anything on who she could be. Dad catches me and raises and eyebrow, and I just shake my head and watch Steve say his last goodbyes.

Of course, my father wouldn't be the Winter Soldier if he didn't let things go, so I'm not very surprised. I am surprised when he says, "No searching for your mother when you're gone."

I look at him, a little startled. "What?"

He gives me a knowing smirk. "You heard me. Behave." I notice Steve waiting, and I force a smile and give him one last hug.

"Love you Dad." I say, stepping back.

"Love you too, doll," He steps back and smiles. "Only two weeks, Gail."

I nod, and Natasha stops next to me as we watch them disappear.

"Come on," She says, touching my shoulder when the car disappears. "Let's watch a movie."

…

"I don't know why they're leaving again," I say irritably, pacing back and forth in my best friend's room. "They're always leaving."

"I don't know why Bucky insists on living in his own apartment when you're here more than your actual house." My best friend Arianna says, twirling a chocolate curl around her finger. "Should we hack the database again?"

"Do you really have to ask?" I drop next to her and watch as she easily hacks into the SHIELD files. I don't know why I'm always impressed; she is a Stark. "Anything new about my mother?"

"There is nothing there," She says flatly, her blue eyes leaving the screen for a split second to meet mine. "No birth records or anything. The only record of you is that you both live in that apartment. It's annoying me."

I shake my head. "Any other sources that could work?"

"I dunno. Maybe record books? I'm going to try my best, but I still have to be careful in case Dad catches on." She shrugs, shutting the laptop. "Movie?" She asks, shaking something in my face.

I cave and settle down even though I dislike sitting still for extended periods of time. The whole time my mind is reeling; why does Dad not want me to look for my own mother? And how did he know about it in the first place?

I don't know when I went to sleep, but I open my eyes to see Natasha looking at me with a frown.

"What?" I ask, my voice hoarse from sleep.

"We need to talk," She says, motioning for me to stand. I clamber to my feet, and she nods towards the couch. I eye her warily as I lower myself, and she sits next to me, leaning close. "I know how Bucky keeps catching you."

I blink. "Come again?"

She sighs, rolling her eyes. "JARVIS keeps turning you two in, and luckily I managed to strike a deal with him."

I raise an eyebrow. "How did you do that?"

"I won't remove him from the tower,"

Well, that would do it. "Why are you helping me?"

"I think you deserve a shot," She says, sounding a little irritated, even though I don't think it's at me. "You deserve to know."

"Do you know?"

She meets my eyes steadily. "No, and I wouldn't tell you if I did. Not without your father."

I nod, conceding. Fine, she has a point. "Do you know what that case is about?"

She shakes her head, her lips pursed. "I haven't been able to figure it out. I think it's more personal, but it doesn't make sense. Why would Fury need them for something personal?"

…

"Why are we really here?" Steve asks, crossing his arms. "I know it's not HYDRA."

"It's actually worse," Fury says, turning to face them. "We made a mistake with Gail."

Bucky straightens. "What do you mean?"

"We should have told her who her mother really is," Fury says, looking between them. "And now we're too late. She's free."


	2. Chapter Two

Chapter Two

"What do you mean she's gone?" Natasha demands, pacing in the living room and glancing in the kitchen where Gail and Arianna are still giggling and probably making a huge mess.

"I don't know." Steve says, sounding a little hesitant. "It could be a problem though. Not only would she be running around, but she might go after Gail."

"Why Gail?" She asks, instantly straightening.

He pauses. "We need to talk about it when we're together," He decides, and Natasha reluctantly nods. "How are they?"

"Tony and Pepper are still in Malibu, but this time Arianna asked me before dropping. Tony's not as amused." She sighs wearily, moving a strand of hair back. "Gail's fine. The same as she always is."

"Is she still looking for her mother?"

"No," She says firmly. "I made sure she understood."

Whether or not he believes her, she doesn't know. "Bucky wants to talk to her."

"I'll get her," She moves the phone and yells, "It's Bucky!"

I dart over and snatch the phone. "Dad? Are you ok? What's going on?"

"Easy," He says, sounding amused. "I only have a little bit of time. How are you?"

"Fine," I clip. "Now what's Fury making you do?"

"No you don't, doll." He says, though I can tell he's smiling. "I'm not giving you SHIELD secrets."

I hear some noises, and a voice whispers loudly, "Playing stalker,"

I laugh, hearing Dad call someone a punk while Steve laughs, and then Dad's back. "Sorry. Your uncle's an idiot. Are you sure you're ok?"

"Yeah, I just… I wish you were home."

"Me too," I hear some more voices, and he sighs. "I have to go. Don't do anything stupid."

"Come back in one piece," I retort.

"Funny. I'll be home soon."

I reluctantly hang up, and I notice Natasha rubbing her lower belly subconsciously. I bite my lip, not liking it when she dwells on it, but I push the thought out of my mind. "Nat?"

She snaps out of it. "Yes?"

I hesitate. "What did they do to him in HYDRA?"

Nat sighs wearily. "They took his arm away and gave him a new one. They trained him to be an assassin, and Steve saved him."

"How many people did he kill?" I ask.

"He didn't get a chance to kill anyone."

I nod, hearing it over and over, but I've heard my dad cry out in his sleep before. "Anything else?"

She shakes her head. "It's classified."

Of course.

"Gail!" Arianna yells. "You're missing it!"

I roll my eyes and follow, missing Natasha's regretful look.

…

"Yes, Dad, I'm going to the press conference next weekend… No, I'm not hanging out with boys, boys are stupid… no, I didn't mean you… I already did my summer homework… Dad, for the last time, I'm not getting a job when you give me so much money… I know you aren't buying Dad, I'm not stupid… Love you too. Bye." Arianna hangs up and drops on her bed with a huff.

I raise an eyebrow. "You conversations with Tony are always interesting."

She groans and holds the pillow over her head. "I hate those stupid press conferences."

"Definitely like your dad." I deadpan. "Do you want me to go with you?"

She peeks out from a corner. "You'd do that?"

I shrug. "I'm not doing anything next weekend."

"You hate them," She says blandly.

She's not wrong; the last time I was nice and went with her I had to stand on the side and watch Arianna stand there like a mannequin. But we did get a really nice lunch for doing it… "Free food." I point out.

She laughs, moving the pillow and moving on her back. "I'll give you that. Then sure, you can come."

I roll my eyes, unable to hide a grin. "Gee, thanks."

She smirks at me. "Speaking of boys, we need to get you one."

I shake my head. "Just because you don't want to date yet doesn't mean you get to set me up."

"But it's fun," She wines, giving me puppy dog eyes.

I send her a hard glare. "I don't date. You know Dad gets weird if I even think about a guy."

"But he's not here." She says innocently.

I chuck the pillow at her, ignoring how easily she catches it. "You're a jerk."

"But I can beat you up," She says, batting her eyes. "Daddy taught me how to box."

"He didn't teach me," I pout.

"Because your Dad has a metal arm and is a ninja." She says, tossing my pillow back. "Kind of a bonus."

"Doesn't count if he's gone all the time," I say, snuggling into my bed. It is a sad day when one of the rooms on Steve and Natasha's floor has two beds because we stay over so much. This is practically my room. "But then again, it's Fury's fault."

She laughs once. "True. By the way, I think they want to send Dad on a trip somewhere."

I frown. "I thought he was mostly done?"

"He is," She deadpans. "Fury is… stubborn."

"Agreed."

"Have you made any progress on Bucky letting you train in SHIELD?"

I blow out a huge breath. "He doesn't mind; he just doesn't like me being in danger. I think he wants it to be more of a desk job."

She wrinkles her nose. "Gross,"

Someone clears their throat, and we sit up to see Natasha balancing popcorn and a few movies.

"Pick one. I have to get ice cream," She smiles as we dart for the movies, and as she turns away I see a bittersweet smile on her face.

"Has she always looked so… sad?" I ask, frowning.

She shrugs. "I dunno if I'd call it sad; maybe regretful, but that doesn't make sense. Ooh, Fantastic 4- classic. Johnny always reminds me of Steve."

I choose not to comment on that Johnny Storm thing, because it's kind of true and I know Natasha finds it hilarious. "We're paying more attention," I decide, settling on my bed. "Right after the movie."

To her credit, Natasha just shook her head when she saw what we put in and didn't try to kill us.


End file.
